What does this image remind you of? Look carefully! Yes, a bunch of RV students (“bats”) sitting on the benches at the assembly!
Last week while on my walk to the mouth of the valley, I spotted two groups of ashy Wood-swallows, each numbering a dozen or so, sitting tightly huddled together on the High-tension wire. I have seen these birds only occasionally and that too at the mouth of the valley in small numbers, rarely exceeding half-a-dozen. These dull-colored birds often feed by pursuing insects caught in the mid-air. They have short nasal “chek-chek” call notes that often give away their presence. They have short tails and often the primaries of their wings extend beyond their tail feathers.
Elsewhere, in Chennai city, where this bird used to be common, I have even seen them nesting atop an electric pole in the middle of a crowded locality.
Dr Santharam